M T H E M O N TA G E
One arrest after gun discharge at STLCC - Florissant Valley Weapon found in lake after accidental shot fired LIVIE HALL MANAGING EDITOR A month after the events that transpired in Ferguson, Mo, St. Louis Community College - Florissant Valley students Caitlin Mayhew and Destinn Marcarius Jacobs gave the school its own gun scare by accidentally firing a .45 caliber handgun in the Humanities building. An arrest record released on Tuesday, Sept. 9 said Mayhew was on the back patio of the Humanities building, smoking and listening to music with Jacobs and a female the record called “Tia.” In the report written by STLCC - Florissant Valley Police Officer David Berryman, Mayhew said Tia pulled a gun out of her handbag after Tia had described an argument she had with her boyfriend. She took the gun from him. “Mayhew said that after she [Tia] pulled it out, Destinn said something like ‘Let me see it’ and then took the gun from her possession,” the record said. “She said Destinn began fondling with the gun and flipped a lever which revealed a red dot. She said Destinn said that meant the safety was on. He fondled with the gun some more at which time it fired.” Mayhew said Jacobs fled to the woods near the building and then maintenance worker Byron Austin asked the girls what had happened. Austin was working on the roof of the building when the shot was fired. Mayhew said “I don’t know, but I’m out of here” and left with Tia. Once apprehended, Jacobs admitted to throwing the weapon in the pond in the woods. According to the report, STLCC - Florissant Valley Police Chief Sandra Turner made the decision to call the Missouri Highway Patrol Marine Division to search the area. Missouri Highway Patrol Marine Division Corporal Justin Wheatley said their department was called and then dismissed once STLCC - Florissant Valley police found the weapon. The police report said Jacobs showed campus police where
he had thrown the gun. He originally said he threw it in the water, then said he might have thrown it on the bank. Berryman asked him if heard a splash, to which Jacobs said he could not remember. Mayhew said the discharge was accidental. She would not give the last names of the two students, but said Tia’s name was Satia. Dispatcher Phyliss Clayborne identified Satia as Satia Hutton. Once the name was confirmed, the record said Hutton was a former student of STLCC - Florissant Valley. After preparing a written statement, Mayhew was released. “We were able to resolve the situation quickly, gather witness and apprehend one of the suspects,” STLCC - Florissant Valley Police Chief Sandra Turner said. “It is resolved now and we want to assure our students that this campus is a safe and secure environment.” The report said the gun was loaded with five live cartridges in the magazine. Berryman cleared the weapon and emptied it of all cartridges. The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) “revealed no theft of the weapon.” Jacobs was brought into questioning by Berryman and recounted the story the same as Mayhew told it the first time. He said after he ditched the gun, he went to a nearby QuikTrip to buy a beer and came back to campus to catch the bus where he was stopped by police. Berryman asked if Jacobs was a student and he said he was formerly. That Friday morning, a tweet was sent from STLCC alerts saying there was an accidental gunshot on campus. Hours later, Director of Public Information and Marketing at STLCC - Florissant Valley Dan Kimack said he believed both St. Louis County and Ferguson Police Departments were involved in the investigation. Media Relations Officer Brian Schellman with the St. Louis County Police Department confirmed that neither
STLCC hosts peace expert following Ferguson aftermath SPENCER GLEASON EDITOR IN CHIEF Faculty and staff from STLCC gathered at the STLCC-Forest Park Theatre on Aug. 29 for an open forum with speaker David Smith. Smith is a staff member of the United States Institute of Peace. The workshop was planned following the Ferguson outbreaks of violence and protests as a result of the Michael Brown shooting. Smith spoke about how to engage students, faculty and staff in working toward peaceful solutions within the community. “People are confused, upset, in despair, reacting and angry. And that’s kind of all over the place,” Smith said. “Part of our job as educators is to funnel that somehow. It’s to give that some sort of a process, so students can park it somewhere to know that it is valid and important and then to take that and pin it to something else, something that creates an outcome or solution.” Before Smith spoke to faculty members, he talked to students about challenges they have faced, including exhaustion, racism and violence. “Racism. Students recognize that,” Smith said. “It’s not just Michael Brown
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– it’s racism in the community. It’s institutionalized. It’s geographic racism.” Smith warned students, faculty and staff that it is not possible to fix St. Louis County. “But we can control what we do at STLCC within our capacity,” he said. As a result, it is important to recognize that the college will need to attend to people who are dealing with mental trauma. “Our students are important resources that we often don’t look at,” Smith said to faculty and staff. “And often, it’s because we don’t get to know our students. One of the hardest things to do today is to get to know them all. The more time we get to spend with our students, the more we think about the ways that our students can help us out.” Sometimes students are resistant to talking or don’t know how to start, he said. Smith recommended faculty, staff and administrators find ways to form trusting environments that promote learning to facilitate peace. “We need to learn from our students,” Smith said. “If we are risk takers, we need to go out of our comfort zone and we need to have our students see that.” GRAPHICS BY: MARISSA DIERCKS
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Sept. 11, 2014